(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to agricultural equipment, and more particularly to a mechanism and method for handling large bales of agricultural material.
(2) Description of Related Art
It is a common practice to pack hay and other agricultural materials that are baled in large bales that weigh well over seven hundred pounds. A bale can have cylindrical or regular parallelepiped geometry. A cylindrical bale is referred to as a "round bale," and a regular parallelepiped bale is referred to as a "rectangular bale."
Agricultural workers work fields in a single direction so that rows formed in the soil are parallel to each other and run in one principal direction. It is desirable to operate equipment that works a field so that the equipment follows the rows of the field.
Balers generally discharge bales so that two substantially parallel flat surfaces of a discharged bale are aligned with the direction in which the field is worked. A baler discharges a bale when a full bale has been formed. Therefore, bales are randomly spaced throughout a field after a baler has been used. The flat surfaces of a bale that are aligned with the field rows generally have no binding on them. The other surfaces of the bale are bound by the baler to keep the bail together. For round bales, this means that the cylindrical axis of the bale is transverse to the direction in which the field is normally worked.
For bale loaders that lift a round bale by an arcuate surface of the bale, such as the bale loaders shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,840 issued to Ansbjer or U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,836 issued to Shonka, the bale loader had to approach the bale in a direction perpendicular to the normal direction that the field is worked. This produced a very uncomfortable ride for the worker, damaged the field, and could cause damage to the equipment being operated. Also, this could be impracticable if the field had ditches or elevational changes through which the bale loader could not pass.
A prior art solution to the approach problem was to follow the rows of the field and rotate a bale by mechanical means before the bale was lifted onto a trailer as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,694 issued to Peters et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,193 issued to Warburton et al. Another prior art solution to the problem was to follow the rows of the field and then ram the bale with an extension of the bale loader to turn the bale as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,426 issued to Dwyer et al. or as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,981 issued to Pronovost et al.
After the bales are loaded, the bales are transported to a storage area and stored. When the bales are stored, it is desirable that the bales be positioned in a tight group to conserve space. Also, the unbound surfaces of the stored bales should face each other to minimize weather damage to the bales.